Whispering Woods

By Aabha Ghuli

And the witch cackled

Deep inside windy woods, in the misty forest was a lone hut which stood at the edge of a cliff. Visited by none but just misfortune and disasters. It wasn’t exactly a pretty sight with its broken windows with cobwebs, rusted hinges and eerie orange lights glowing inside. It looked very unwelcoming. But nothing was worse than the creature that lived in it. 

Deep black eyes, crooked nose, Mega long nails, tangled hair, stinker that skunk and wrinkled skin. This bizarre lady was a total terror. 

“I will become younger, stronger, most beautiful and loved one…most adored and wanted by all..! Hehe!!” The witch cackled menacingly while her black cat trembled while running and hid behind a pile of bones. 

“And now,” she rubbed her palms and assured herself, “this is the right time…The full moon spreading its glory” 

She dumped few woods and made a fire below a huge cauldron. Then, slowly, and carefully, she began. 

 A huge pink pig

Hairy and brown, a rat so big

Hair from a bald man

Burnt omelet from a pan

A dinosaur’s egg

A spider’s leg

An owl’s feather

And clump of heather

A black cat’s hair

Tail of a mare

One fat hen

Shoe number ten

One long nail

A monkey’s tail

All went into the pot

Bubbling, frothing, sizzling and hot

The witch stirred and stirred the concoction.

She stirred till it turned blue, then black. She stirred till it turned yellow and green and blue again. In the end, all that was left was a glass of blue runny liquid.

“That is what I want” the witch said, grinning widely and showing all her rotten teeth.

She picked up the glass and gulped in one go, while some trickled done her neck. She wiped it with one swift movement of her torn sleeve and laughed victoriously all night which echoed through the forest…

What she did not notice was a lizard which had slipped in the cauldron, while she was busy flinging things..

Suddenly, her nails grew even longer, her teeth started falling off like balling pins. Her hair got burnt to crisp and eyes turned to a deep shade of red.

Her cat fainted, looking at her fearsome sight…

“Nooo!!! What has happened to me?” The witch howled in a very hoarse voice.

She restlessly flipped thought pages of her spell book… “I will make it all over again…” she announced in a determined voice.

She roamed around windy woods searching for every ingredient , she needed. She roamed …and roamed around for  few more days for last few things…She went angrier day by day…as the last ingredient was very important.

And on the next full moon, the woods whispered her name, but only the shadows answered back…

By Aabha Ghuli